Bridget Kelly’s Guide To Proving You’re Fan Enough

Bridget Kelly's Guide To Proving You're Fan Enough

So you think you’re a football fan?It takes more than claiming a team to be fan enough for Bridget Kelly. Sure, she’s a Grammy-Award-winning singer/songwriter. She’s a poised, passionate, well-spoken musician who's leading the charge in HOT 97's Battle of the Beats and just dropped her latest EP Cut To...Bridget Kelly. But first and foremost, this New Yorker is a true-blue football fan. Kelly’s loved the game since she was a kid. In fact, her very first career goal was to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. “I remember being five years old and listening to Whitney Houston do it and being so emotional,” she explains. “I was five and I cried–I don’t know why I cried. I was five it didn’t mean anything to me, I just remember that moment. It’s what I wanted to do.” Proving your love for your team requires some serious dedication. We’re talking toughing it out in crappy seats. We’re talking knowledge-spitting skills. We’re talking real fandom. Going to a Giants game with Bridget Kelly is an educational experience. She rattles off stats, screams at the coach and jumps ten feet high when they make it to the endzone, all while she's wearing 5-inch heels.
We had Bridget lay out the things that are absolutely essential to proving you’re Fan Enough. Although born in seats at The Giants’ home stadium, Kelly assures us, “These aren’t even Giants facts, they’re football facts.”
Click through the thumbnail images above for Bridget Kelly's Guide To Proving You're Fan Enough and keep up with the latest #FanEnough news on Twitter.

1. You have to sit in nosebleed seats.

If you’re a real football fan you have sat in nosebleed seats at least twice. I've paid my dues, I was there when The Giants played at Meadowlands and not the MetLife Stadium. It was rustic, ratchet and rickety.

2. Know the coach’s name.

You have to know the coach’s name so you can curse him out when you’re at the game. When I watch the O line mess up, I’m yelling at the coach, ‘Something’s not right with you!.’ The Giants' head coach Tom Coughlin has led them to two Super Bowls in the past 10 years.

3. Understand penalties.

You have to know your quarterback. You have to understand when flags need to be thrown, you have to understand the game. You should be able to scream out when a flag isn’t thrown. ‘That should have been a pass interference!’ Usually people around you scream with you.
Just for the sake of our less-informed readers—can you explain what a pass interference is?
It is when the opposing team, the defensive team, does not have their eye on the ball. So, the receiver is waiting for the ball, the quarterback is supposed to throw it to him. Pass interference is when the team that is playing defense blocks that but doesn’t have their eye on the ball. The minute they take their eye off the ball or they mess up the pass, it’s a pass interference.

4. Have merch.

You have to have one item, like a jersey or a hat—some type of merch. A hat, a scarf, a scully, a jersey—whatever. I have a Manning jersey and New York Giants fitted.

5. Tailgate.

I have a lot of family that’s into college football, so, I got into tailgating early on. NY Giants tailgating is a lot of fun. People get out here early in the day, pitch a tent, get a grill. You’re there for breakfast, for lunch, maybe for dinner depending on what time the game ends. You’ll probably sit there through the end of it because you’re going to be stuck in traffic for two hours trying to leave parking lot anyways, so people just post up for the whole day.

6. Have a favorite player on your home team.

Victor Cruz is my favorite player.
He is someone people counted out, he was on the injured reserve list with Sinorice Moss—they kind of counted him out, you don’t play basically you sit on the bench. Victor Cruz is my favorite because he’s the underdog. He’s from Paterson, New Jersey, came from nothing, worked his butt off to get where he is. As soon as an opportunity opened up for him, he stepped up to the plate. I respect that as a player. He gives back to his community, he has an incredible daughter and and incredible wife. I love them and I respect him.